Greers Ferry ambulances in crisis

Thursday

Oct 17, 2013 at 1:18 PM

The Board of the Greers Ferry Ambulance Service is advising all area people of the impending shutdown of the ambulance service by the end of the year.

James Jackson

The Board of the Greers Ferry Ambulance Service is advising all area people of the impending shutdown of the ambulance service by the end of the year. They are notifying the public that they cannot continue to provide 24/7 ambulance services with their diminished crew. “We are currently running with a skeleton crew and cannot continue to ask them to sacrifice their time and energy on a daily basis Most of our current crew has been on this service for 10+ years, running consistently days and nights without regard to their health or nonexistent free time,” said Karen Jones

They are asking for the community to support them during this reported crisis and asking people to commit to volunteer time on a consistent and long lasting basis to become EMT’s, First Responders, and Drivers. At present they reportedly run 24/7 seven (7) days/week with 12 and 24 hour shifts.

According to Karen Jones, EMT’s are required to take an EMT course that will last 4 months. First Responders will be taught the basics and need to take a CPR class. Drivers will be taught the duties of driving and need to take a CPR class. The ambulance service will provide a CPR instructor and will pay for the cost of the class for First Responders and Drivers. EMT’s will take a CPR class during their course. The ambulance service will provide a subsidy for those who cannot afford the EMT course.

A Board member will be present at the ambulance building from 9am-2pm on Saturday, October 26, 2013 to discuss this.

“Due to these circumstances, there will be no fund drive this year. If the ambulance service continues in 2014, we will have a fund drive next spring or summer,” said Jones